hunger strike, protests and more arrests
Last Thursday, Kabir Uddin and Muhammad Bidduth, Equality Trade Union-Migrants Branch leaders who have been detained in Hwasong Immigration Processing Center for two months since a government crackdown on migrant workers, initiated a hunger strike to protest human rights violations inside the detention center.
Last Thursday, Kabir Uddin and Muhammad Bidduth, Equality Trade Union-Migrants Branch leaders who have been detained in Hwasong Immigration Processing Center for two months since a government crackdown on migrant workers, initiated a hunger strike to protest human rights violations inside the detention center.
Their demands are: release all migrant worker prisoners and stop the abuse of migrant workers, both inside and outside the center.
One day later two more migrant workers prisoners joined the hunger strike with the same demands. The two, a man from Nigeria named Paul, and man from Kazakhstan named Mansurog, have been in prison for four months. They were arrested after being beaten by a mob of drunk Koreans on the street. After calling the police for help, instead of arresting the perpetrators, they detained the two migrant workers.
Two more migrant worker prisoners, both Chinese, have also joined the hunger strike.
Last Saturday, about 15 Korean ETU-MB members and supporters tried to visit the director of the Seoul Immigration Office in Mokdong. The director refused to talk with the delegation. He did leave a message for the group, saying that he is not responsible for this situation and–incidentally–the delegates have to immediately leave the office.
After an argument with immigrant officers while a security guard protected the director`s door, at least 50 riot cops marched in. At 1:20 p.m. they violently cleared the office building and arrested every delegate.
The rest of the delegation is still in prison. At this point ETU-MB has yet to respond.
Source: base21
